ET deals: WD HD Live Hub holds 1TB, handles nearly all video formats

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The trick to a cable-free existence is no longer a secret. With online streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, and YouTube, there is no shortage of free or inexpensive digital content. And it’s not just the obscure content anymore either: Hulu has many of the most popular shows on TV, Netflix has back episodes of the same, and you can watch many recent top movies on Amazon.

While all of these services are readily available and inexpensive, they are first and foremost available on the PC. To be a true entertainment replacement, you need to get your digital media onto your HDTV. This is where new devices like the WD HD Live Hub come in to play.

Instead of connecting your HTPC to your TV, the WD HD Live Hub is a standalone device that connects to your HDTV over HDMI, component, or composite. It supports up to 1080p video (though your streaming quality may be lower), and 5.1 surround sound through an optical audio port.

All the usual services are supported out of the box including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, YouTube, and Facebook. The Live Hub connects to your home network via ethernet or an optional WiFi adapter.

As you probably know, there are many devices like the Live Hub that provide this dedicated streaming capability at a lower price. Where this little gizmo seeks to stand out is its built-in 1TB of storage and its video decoding features. You can copy your media files directly to the Live Hub, either over the network or the USB interface, for quick and easy playback on an HDTV and sharing to other PCs on the network.

Among its repertoire of supported video formats, the Live Hub can play AVI, Xvid, MKV, MOV, FLV, VOB, MP3, WAV, MP4, MPEG, and WMV9. The popular MKV format is an especially nice option, allowing you to encode videos with your choice of video and audio codecs in one package.

When you consider the cost of a standalone network-attached storage unit and separate media streaming device, the WD HD Live Hub offers a lot of tech for your buck at $169.99.